The authoritarian drift of socialism in Spain: this is how a dictatorship is born

@ElentirENG ES 12·01·2023 · 8:52 0

When they talk to us about dictatorships, it is normal for us to imagine the undemocratic regimes that the world knew in the last century.

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Dictatorships that emerged from the polls or that call themselves 'democratic'

It is relatively easy to recognize one of those classic dictatorships, due to certain characteristics: they are single-party regimes that openly violate human rights, in which there is no freedom to disagree with political power and whose elite has assaulted power through violence. Many of them, in addition, openly rejected democracy, without hiding their authoritarianism.

However, even among classic dictatorships there have been events that distort that idea. For example, the Nazi Party came to power in Germany through an electoral victory, beginning a process of abolishing democracy through laws. Likewise, some communist dictatorships have defined themselves as "democratic". There is the case of communist Germany, whose cynical official name was "Democratic Republic of Germany", despite being a single-party and brutally oppressive regime.

From a party of the Sánchez government it was said that Cuba is "a representative democracy"

Even among people who call themselves democrats there are clear supporters of those dictatorships that contribute to their whitewashing from the free world. Last year, a Spanish communist MEP affirmed that "in Cuba there is a representative democracy" and that this regime "respects human rights." A lie did not cause any scandal, despite the fact that that politician is a member of a party that is part of Pedro Sánchez's government.

In recent years we have been able to see other examples of dictatorships that go beyond the classical canons. For example, the dictatorships of Venezuela and Nicaragua were established through electoral victories by far-left parties, and both regimes strive to maintain a false appearance of democracy. As in the case of Cuba, leftists who call themselves democrats defend those regimes in the West while labeling the democratic right as "fascist."

The cases of Russia and Türkiye: emptying democracy from within

There are other governments that openly display their authoritarianism while pretending to be democratic. We have the examples of Russia and Turkey, whose presidents, Putin and Erdogan, exercise power in a dictatorial manner, much more clearly in the Russian case, while maintaining certain democratic formalities that are increasingly empty. of content. In both countries, their governments came to power through elections and have used the system itself to empty it from within, using the laws to destroy freedoms.

The authoritarian drift of Pedro Sánchez's government in Spain

Likewise, the government of socialists and communists headed by Pedro Sánchez in Spain is acquiring increasingly clear authoritarian characteristics, with attempts to undermine the separation of powers, attacks on judges and the use increasingly frequent use of the Police for political purposes. Despite the numerous criticisms from all kinds of institutions and the massive citizen protests in the streets, this coup against the rule of law in Spain is taking place in the face of the almost absolute ineffectiveness of the European Commission, which has been much more diligent in persecuting conservative governments such as those of Poland and Hungary.

The gradual demolition of the dams against abuses of power

In new dictatorships it is more difficult for people to determine when democracy disappears, because it is a gradual process that involves undermining the democratic framework itself from within. Furthermore, these new authoritarianisms appeal to their original legitimacy - the fact of having won elections - as an excuse to tear down the pillars of democracy, starting with the dams against abuses of power.

In Spain we are seeing more and more statements from the government denying the right to question its actions, even through the courts, which in every democratic country are responsible for protecting citizens against abuses of power.

Just yesterday we saw how the socialist minister Félix Bolaños rejected that the Supreme Court can "question decisions that are exclusively the responsibility of the Government of Spain", after that court revoked the appointment of the president of the Council of State for having violated the law. Thus, the government of Pedro Sánchez believes itself endowed with a power with no limits other than his will, a power that delegitimizes Justice to exercise its function as a dam against any abuse. That has always been a clear sign that a government assumes a dictatorial drift.

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Photo: PSOE.